If opposition sides weren’t wary of the Cowra Eagles ahead of the run-in to the Bathurst District Football Association finals they should be now, following the side’s 1-1 draw against competition leaders CSU White.
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The result follows last week’s exact same outcome against second-placed Panorama Red, and on both occasions the Eagles led for the vast majority.
It’s given coach Adam Gambrill bucket loads of confidence with one week of the regular season remaining.
“The last two weeks we’ve played the top two sides and shared the spoils. That’s a really good effort and we led for 90 per cent of both games. We’re right in it,” Gambrill said on Monday morning.
On Sunday at Bathurst’s Proctor Park, Cowra dominated the opening exchanges with strikers Toby Baker and Shaun Mortyne challenging the CSU goalie early.
The deadlock was broken in 40th minute when Mortyne netted a penalty after Baker was brought down inside the box while swooping on a through ball that would have had him one-on-one with the keeper.
Cowra carried that lead into the break, but the hosts swung the momentum from the restart.
CSU applied mountains of pressure and kept possession inside Cowra’s half for the majority of the second 45 minutes. It eventually reaped a reward with a goal in the 80th minute.
Gambrill was disappointed having conceded a late equaliser for the second week in a row, but on reflection he said he was “stoked” with the performance.
“Their goal came following a ping pong melee in the box and they snuck it at the near post. It was a crappy goal to concede, we keep conceding crappy, crappy goals,” he said.
“In fairness they had enough chances to score. They had other opportunities that shaved the post or went over the top. I was disappointed but when I reflect on it now, we were fairly under strength so it’s a big positive.”
The result leaves Cowra in fifth place on the competition ladder, with a likely elimination final against Lithgow Workies Gold looming.
The two sides meet this Sunday in a match which will decide whether Cowra finishes fourth or fifth.
Top six
- CSU White
- Panorama Red
- Abercrombie
- Lithgow Workies Gold
- Cowra Eagles
- Panorama Black
Finals scenario
Semi-finals
Game one – 3rd v 6th
Game two – 4th v 5th
Finals
Game three – 1st v winner of game one
Game four – 2nd v winner of game two
Grand final
Winner of game three v winner of game four
